1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control method, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses are configured to perform image formation on a sheet using a recording material, such as toner. Generally, the recording material is stored in a storage unit, such as a cartridge. Some image forming apparatuses can detect the remaining amount of a recording material remaining in the storage unit and then display the detected value of the remaining amount on a display unit, such as a user interface (UI).
Such a conventional image forming apparatus is equipped with a sensor that detects the remaining amount, and is configured to directly display the value detected by the sensor as the remaining amount of the recording material. Sensors mostly employed in consideration of cost cannot exert correct detection accuracy until the remaining amount reaches a certain low level. In the case of such sensors, the remaining amount of the recording material is detected in a discrete manner, for example, as 100%, 20%, and 0%. As a result, also on the display unit, the remaining amount of the recording material is displayed in a discrete manner, for example, as 100%, 20%, and 0%.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-343621 discusses a technique to allow the display unit to display the remaining amount of the recording material in a continuous manner while employing a sensor that discretely detects the remaining amount of the recording material. For example, the technique calculates a predicted value of the toner remaining amount based on a dot count value of raster data during image formation, and displays the calculated predicted value as a current value of the toner remaining amount. Then, when having acquired a sensor value of the toner remaining amount from the sensor, the technique updates the current value with the sensor value.
However, since the dot count function is not a function essential for printing, some image forming apparatuses may have such a hardware configuration that only a typical data path is compatible with the dot count function and other specific data paths are not compatible with the dot count function. Such image forming apparatuses cannot calculate the toner remaining amount value using the dot count function for print data that passes through a data path that is not compatible with the dot count function.
Thus, such image forming apparatuses have no alternative but to abandon calculating the toner remaining amount value for print data that passes through a data path that is not compatible with the dot count function or to calculate a fixed toner remaining amount value for each page without using the dot count function. As a result, the toner remaining amount value calculated using the dot count function may exhibit a transition that greatly deviates from the transition of a physical toner remaining amount value.